Read Online Red Rain: Lightning Strikes: Red Rain Series #2 by David Beers - Free Book Online Page B

The priest said.
    Three months of conversations.
    Three months of moving around the real reason John came to this church. Father Charles tried to convince John he could be told anything, but John didn’t believe it. Not at first, but he began doing his own research, and learned that inside the confessional booth, the words were sacred. The priest could tell no one unless he wanted to be excommunicated, stripped of everything he worked his whole life for.
    And John needed forgiveness. He needed absolution of the crimes he committed, not only against man, but also against God.
    The past three months had taught John a lot about God and what He wanted. Truthfully, he felt like he was receiving the first real education of his life. He had been to school—good schools, and done well—but none of those places dealt with the soul. His soul, he thought when he first showed up, was black. Blackened more with each passing year, starting with Harry’s death and culminating in the past few years. What was there left to do except join his rightful place next to Satan and call it a life?
    Father Charles taught him differently, though.
    That no one was beyond forgiveness.
    And now John sat inside the booth, the small window open between he and the man saving his life. Or leading him to The One that could save it.
    “Tell me your sins, John.”
    He swallowed, unsure how to start. He imagined this moment for the past three months, but now that he was here, he didn’t know what to say. How to tell someone the things he’d done, the thoughts that he still held.
    “I’ve murdered, Father.”
    Silence from the universe’s deepest regions filled the void between he and the priest.
    “Murder, John?” he said finally.
    “Yes. More than once. I watched my best friend die and I did nothing to save him. I murder because ….” He felt the tears hit his cheeks, hot and unforgiving. “Because I can’t stop it. Because at least a part of me really likes it.”
    Again, that silence which seemed to have no end, to know all and nothing at the same time.
    “Forgive me, John. I’m ….” The priest didn’t finish.
    “You said God can forgive,” John said, his voice hitching. “You said He can make me whole again. That He knows me and loves me.”
    John didn’t know if he was even speaking to someone on the other side, such was the cavern in between he and the priest.
    “Can he, Father? Can he forgive me?”
    “John, I, uh … Yes. He can. He can do anything he wants. But, I didn’t know what your sins were. I’ve never dealt with something like this.”
    John didn’t speak this time, letting the priest’s words hang in the air—the final rebuke, what John knew had been coming since the very moment he watched Harry trying to keep his head above water, and yet did nothing to help him. Because he was unforgiven. He was unloved. He was the monster he always thought, and now, with this holy man’s words, it all came true.
    “The most important thing, I think, is whether you have a true desire to quit, John. I don’t know everything that’s going on with you. If I’m being honest, I’m not even sure I know you at all right now. God can forgive and He can purify, but you have to be in the right place to accept his forgiveness.”
    A pause, and then John spoke. “I know.”
    “I’m not sure you’re there. I’m not sure about a lot right now, John.”
    He put his hands to his face, sobs coming freely. “I have to stop, Father. I can’t continue. I can’t.”

    * * *
    F ather Charles kept his head bowed.
    Lord, forgive me. Please forgive me , he prayed.
    He didn’t know if forgiveness was possible, but he felt his hand was forced. He couldn’t stand by and let it continue to happen. He couldn’t let this man continue to murder.
    The priest turned around, raising his head and looking at John.
    “Let’s go to my office. I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
    John nodded.
    “Okay.”

    * * *
    G od helped .
    John